Makoto Uchida (L), president and CEO of Japanese automaker Nissan, shakes hands with Toshihiro Mibe (R), director, president and deputy chief executive officer of automaker Honda, after a press conference on August 1, 2024 in Tokyo.
Richard A. Brooks | Afp | Getty Images
Nissan engine Shares rose on Wednesday after a Media report with which the ailing Japanese car manufacturer is seeking a merger Honda enginescreating a larger company that can compete with larger competitors and invest more in the growing electric vehicle market.
Nissan shares were last up 22%, while Honda shares fell 1.6%.
Honda and Nissan are considering operating under a holding company and will soon sign a memorandum of understanding, according to a report Nikkei newspaper. They also try to bring something at some point Mitsubishi enginesAccording to the report, Nissan is the major shareholder among the holding company with a 24% stake.
If the merger is successful, it will be particularly beneficial for Nissan, which had previously announced plans to do so Reduction of 9,000 jobs and reduced global production capacity by a fifth amid fierce competition in its key markets.
Joe McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions, told CNBC on Wednesday that Nissan needed a “revitalization” after its relationship with Renault went sideways.
“They (Nissan) had no leadership position in any of the segments they competed in,” he said.
In a statement, Nissan said media reports that it was “considering a business integration” with Honda were not based on an announcement from our company. Nissan said it is considering various options for future collaboration with Honda and Mitsubishi, but no decisions have been made yet. Shares of Mitsubishi had recently risen by 14%.
According to Nikkei, the combined Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi company would be equivalent to more than 8 million vehicle sales annually. This would place the company among the largest automakers in the world, but still lag behind other Japanese automakers Toyota engineat 11.2 million in 2023, as well as German car manufacturer Volkswagenwhich reported sales of last year 9.2 million Vehicles.
The merger report follows the two Japanese automakers entering into a strategic partnership for shared automotive components and software earlier this year.
Such a merger would be the largest merger in the automotive industry since the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France-based PSA Groupe Stellar in January 2021.
– Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
